Homer Township to spend thousands on energy-efficient lighting

Homer Township plans to spend thousands of dollars on updating to energy-efficient lighting to prepare for the nationwide phaseout of traditional incandescent and fluorescent bulbs.

The township expects to change fluorescent lighting in its administration center and town hall to updated energy-efficient lighting, Township Clerk Linsey Sowa said in an interview last month.

Trustees at the May township board meeting debated the move to seek grant funding and have a company retrofit to make lighting energy efficient. Township Supervisor Pam Meyers, along with Trustees John Kruczek and Ed Kalas, voted in favor of accepting the proposal from Project Green for updating the lighting in the two township buildings. Trustee Christina Neitzke was absent and Trustee Vicki Bozen was opposed, stating that additional companies should be looked into and considered.

With Project Green, the total cost of retrofitting the administration building will be $13,274, but is expected to cost the township only $5,895 with the help of a grant, Sowa said. The total cost for the town hall will be $3,442, but should cost the township $2,202 after a grant, Sowa said.

The time and cost involved in phasing out traditional lighting has some in the township questioning whether the federal law behind the change is such a bright idea.

"It'll cost this country … millions of dollars," said licensed commercial electrician Tom Fijan, who has done work for Homer Township and was consulted at the May township meeting about energy-efficient lighting. Critics of the new law have said some of the energy-efficient lights can pose their own health and environmental risks.

Under the 2007 law signed by former President George W. Bush, traditional bulbs are being phased out, which started with 100-watt incandescent bulbs in 2012 and is scheduled to end with 40-watt bulbs in January 2014, with exceptions made for certain bulbs such as specialty lights, according to the website for Energy Star, an Environmental Protection Agency voluntary program encouraging energy efficiency.

The United States is not alone in the largely global move to energy-efficient bulbs. The European Union began its own phaseout of traditional bulbs in 2009.

"It is unsafe if the light bulb breaks" because of the toxicity of mercury, said Homer Glen Trustee Margaret Sabo, chairwoman of the Homer Glen Village Board's Environment Committee.

"All fluorescents have mercury in them, not just compact fluorescents," Fijan said. "That's what makes them work."

While a CFL contains far less mercury than a thermometer — banned for sale in the U.S. — "exposure to even small amounts of mercury over a long period of time might cause negative health effects," according to a fact sheet on the Illinois Department of Public Health's website.

LEDs are mercury-free but are "very expensive," Fijan said. Meanwhile, halogen bulbs are mercury-free and energy efficient but have a history of starting fires in some situations because they get so hot, Fijan said.

The traditional incandescent bulb has its drawback too — only a small portion of energy is given off as light, with 90 percent given off as heat, according to the Department of Energy's website. But the energy savings with energy-efficient bulbs won't necessarily mean a cost savings for consumers because of the higher cost of energy-efficient bulbs, Fijan said.

Still, there's a tried-and-true way for residents to save energy and money at the same time, Sabo said. "To make it even more efficient, you can turn off the lights when you don't need them."